International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 87 (2010) 239e244

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International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpvp

Stress distributions in a horizontal pressure vessel and the saddle supports

Shaque M.A. Khan*
Department of Mechanical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia

a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history: Received 18 July 2008 Received in revised form 5 March 2010 Accepted 8 March 2010 Keywords: Pressure vessel Saddle supports Stress Finite element method

a b s t r a c t
This paper presents analysis results of stress distributions in a horizontal pressure vessel and the saddle supports. The results are obtained from a 3D nite element analysis. A quarter of the pressure vessel is modeled with realistic details of saddle supports. In addition to presenting the stress distribution in the pressure vessel, the results provide details of stress distribution in different parts of the saddle separately, i.e. wear, web, ange and base plates. The effect of changing the load and various geometric parameters is investigated and recommendations are made for the optimal values of ratio of the distance of support from the end of the vessel to the length of the vessel and ratio of the length of the vessel to the radius of the vessel for minimum stresses both in the pressure vessel and the saddle structure. Physical reasons for favoring of a particular value of ratio of the distance of support from the end of the vessel to the length of the vessel are also outlined. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Horizontal pressure vessels are usually supported with two saddle supports, which cause additional stresses in the pressure vessel in addition to the stresses generated by the internal pressure in the vessel. The saddle structure itself is obviously stressed too. Therefore the design of a saddle and determination of the stresses induced is an important step during the design of a horizontal pressure vessel. The ASME [1] pressure vessel code does not provide specic design procedure for the saddle design or the induced stresses. The current practice is to use the semi-empirical method developed by Zick [2,3], which is based on the beam theory and various assumptions to simplify the problem. Due to these assumptions, Zicks method may not yield accurate results. However, Zicks analysis is better judged on the performance it has demonstrated since it was rst published, and therefore, it is also the basis of the saddle design guidelines given in pressure vessel design handbooks; see for example Megyesy [4]. The work of Tooth and collaborators [5e7] is also invaluable literature on the saddle design and it has been incorporated in the British Standard BS 5500 [8]. It is important to note that the work of Tooth and collaborators is based on a more rigorous analysis as compared to Zicks method and employs analytical solutions using Fourier expansion terms. Nevertheless, a more accurate analysis is always desirable. With the advancement in the computational technology and numerical methods, it is now possible to obtain more detailed stress
* Tel.: 966 3 860 7225; fax: 966 3 860 2949. E-mail address: skhan@kfupm.edu.sa 0308-0161/$ e see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijpvp.2010.03.005

distributions in the saddle and the vessel and thus improve the saddle design guidelines. One of such rst studies is carried out by Widera et al. [9], which performed a complete 3D nite element analysis of a quarter of a pressure vessel using symmetric boundary conditions. The pressure vessel was assumed to be full of uid as this is the most critical condition of loading while considering the self weight of the pressure vessel. The saddle supports are considered to be exible and welded to the pressure vessel. They analyzed various saddle locations and recommended to use 0.25 as the ratio of the distance of the saddle from the tangent line of vessel to the total length of vessel for minimum stresses in the pressure vessel. Ong [10] carried out numerical studies to study the effect of a xed or loose tting wear plate on the stresses induced in the pressure vessel and concluded that the peak stress in the vessel at the saddle horn is reduced by 15e40% with wear plate, which has the same thickness as the vessel and extends at least 5 above the saddle horn. It was also found that a xed (welded) wear plate performs better in reducing stresses in the pressure vessel than a loose tting wear plate. Ong and Lu [11] performed a parametric study to determine the optimal support radius of a loose tting saddle and recommended the use of a clearance t saddle support to reduce the localized stresses in the pressure vessel at the saddle horn. Chan et al. [12] presented results from an experimental study aimed at understanding the pressure vessel collapse mechanism onto the saddles. They concluded that the collapse mechanism is dependent on the two parameters studied, i.e. radius-thickness ratio of the pressure vessel and the type of support (loose tting or welded). El-Abbasi et al. [13] performed a 3D nite element analysis of a exible and loose tting saddle-supported pressure vessels

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Ves s el a t t h e Saddle Horn

V e s s el H e a d

Nomenclature The radius of the pressure vessel The length from tangent to tangent line of the pressure vessel A The distance from the tangent line to the saddle center B The distance from the base plate to the centerline of the vessel W The width of the base plate of the saddle C The width of the base plate and lower end of the ange plate of the saddle D The width of the upper end of the ange plate of the saddle G The thickness of the base plate of the saddle H The thickness of the ange plate of the saddle The thickness of the web plate of the saddle H1 K The thickness of the wear plate of the saddle sMises,max Maximum value of von Mises stress E Elastic modulus of steel n Poissons ratio of steel r Density of steel using a newly developed nite element that accounts for the contact stresses between the vessel and the saddle supports. They concluded that a saddle radius 1e2% larger than that of the vessel leads to a 50% reduction in the stresses and an overhang of 5e10 leads to 25e40% reduction. In addition, the optimal horizontal location of saddles is recommended as 0.1e0.15 for the ratio of the distance from the pressure vessel tangent line to the saddle to the total length of the vessel. This is different than the one recommended by Widera et al. [9], however the results of Widera et al. [9] are for welded saddles. Magnucki et al. [14] performed a parametric analysis of horizontal pressure vessel with exible and welded saddle supports using nite element method. They recommended a value of 1/30 for the ratio of distance from the vessel tangent line to the saddle to the total length of the vessel, which is in complete contradiction with Widera et al. [9]. They also recommend a value of 12e16 for the length to radius ratio of the pressure vessel for minimum stresses. It is noted that the open literature is focused more on the stresses induced in the pressure vessel and less on the stresses developed in the saddle supports. El-Abbasi et al. [13] looked into the contact stresses only in the wear plate but rest of their saddle support model lacks realistic design. Magnucki et al. [14] have analyzed the maximum stress in the saddle structure as a whole without any regard as to where this maximum stress is occurring. In addition, they recommended the use of same thickness plates for all parts of the saddle, which is contrary to the current practice as available in the pressure vessel design handbooks [4]. The author has previously presented a preliminary analysis of the stress distributions in the saddle supports [15]. This study aims to take a sample case from the saddle designs given in Megyesy [4] and build a solid model with realistic geometry of the saddle together with the pressure vessel, and employ nite element method to analyze the effect of various factors on the stress distributions both in the saddle and the pressure vessel. 2. Problem setup 2.1. Pressure vessel and saddle structure A pressure vessel with radius R, tangent to tangent line length of L and with ellipsoidal heads is considered. The depth of head is R L

Vessel between Head & Saddle

Vessel Midsection R

A R/2 L/2

b
25mm D 120o 25 m m H1 H G W C 5o

Fig. 1. a: Pressure Vessel Conguration, b: Saddle support structure.

equal to R/2. The saddle is located at a distance A from the tangent line and is considered welded to the vessel. The details of the saddle design are taken from Megyesy [4] for a nominal pressure vessel diameter of 660 mm. The geometric parameters of the pressure vessel and saddle supports are given in Fig. 1. B is the height from the base of the saddle (i.e. the rigid surface) to the center of the pressure vessel, W is the width of the saddle, C is the width of the base plate and the ange plate at the lower end, and D is the width

Fig. 2. Meshed nite element model with saddle model inset.

MIDSPAN

S.M.A. Khan / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 87 (2010) 239e244
140 Vessel

241

130

constant for the study are: R 330 mm, B 482 mm, W 572 mm, C 100 mm, D 150 mm, G 6 mm, H 6 mm, H1 6 mm, K 6 mm. The values of the rest of the parameters will change and will be mentioned with the results.

Mises,max (MPa)

120

110

Saddle Structure

2.2. Finite element model Commercial nite element software ANSYS version 11 is used for nite element analysis. The solid model as detailed in the previous section is built completely in the ANSYS environment. Taking advantage of the symmetry of the problem, only a quarter of the pressure vessel and saddle is modeled. The material properties used for steel are E 207 GPa, n 0.3, and density r 7.85 103 kg/m3. The pressure vessel is considered full of uid and the self weight of the pressure vessel is also considered in the analysis. The solid model is meshed using 8-noded brick elements. At least three layers of nite elements are used through thickness of the pressure vessel and two layers through thickness of the saddle structure. The meshed model is shown in Fig. 2. Symmetric boundary conditions are applied at all the outer faces of the model. In addition, lower face of the base plate of the saddle is xed in all

100

90

80 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55

No. of Finite Elements (x1000)

Fig. 3. Mesh sensitivity analysis.

of the ange plate at the upper end. G, H, H1 and K are the thicknesses of the base plate, ange plate, web plate and wear plate respectively. A contact angle of 120 is considered with 5 overhang for the wear plate. Numerical values of parameters that are

400
A/L = 0.15 L/R = 10 Flange Plate

350 300

Mises,max (MPa)

250 200 150 100

Vessel between Head & Saddle

Vessel at the Saddle Horn Base Plate

Vessel Midsection Wear Plate Vessel Head Web Plate

50 0 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60

Normalized Load

Fig. 4. a: Effect of increasing the load on saddles; A/L 0.15, L/R 10, b: Stress distribution (in MPa) in saddle parts, for normalized load of 0.9.

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450
Flange Plate L/R = 10

of the pressure vessel and saddle will be presented and discussed where appropriate. 3.1. Maximum load on the saddle

400 350

Mises,max (MPa)

300 250 200

Base Plate

Vessel at the Saddle Horn

Vessel Midsection

150 100 50 0 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40
Vessel between Head & Saddle Web Plate Vessel Head Wear Plate

A/L

b 700
Flange Plate

L/R = 14

600 500
Base Plate

400 300 200 100 0

Vessel between Head & Saddle Web Plate Wear Plate Vessel at the Saddle Horn Vessel Midsection Vessel Head

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

0.35

0.40

A/L
Fig. 5. Effect of the ratio A/L; a: L/R 10, b: L/R 14.

degrees of freedom to prevent rigid body motion. The vessel is loaded with 1 MPa internal pressure. 2.3. Mesh sensitivity analysis A mesh sensitivity analysis is performed, both in the pressure vessel and saddle structure, to ensure optimum mesh size for proper convergence and accurate numerical results. The value of maximum von Mises stress (sMises,max) occurring in the structure is used as the convergence criterion. Results are shown in Fig. 3; starting with 18,000 nite elements, the mesh is rst rened in the pressure vessel only, up to 26,500 nite elements and it is found out that the mesh is already sensitive enough in the pressure vessel. This is due to the fact that because of certain geometric restrictions for mapped meshing, an initial ne mesh was inevitable to use. Once the convergence is established in the vessel, then the mesh is rened step by step in different parts of the saddle structure until the maximum von Mises stress reaches a plateau, at which point the mesh in both the vessel and saddle structures is converged. The chosen meshed model is shown in Fig. 2, which will be used for further studies. 3. Results and discussion Results from parametric studies for the effect of various parameters will be presented in this section. The maximum value of von Mises stress (sMises,max) will be observed, analyzed and presented in eight sections of the model. The rst four sections are the saddle components, i.e. web, wear, ange and base plates. Further, the pressure vessel is divided into four sections: the vessel head, the section supported by the saddle, the section between the previous two sections and the rest of pressure vessel towards the mid span (please see Fig. 1a). 3D stress contours of the critical parts

The maximum load a saddle can support is an important design parameter. Different components of the saddle may yield under different maximum loads. Therefore, in this section the effect of increasing the load on a saddle is investigated. A value of 0.15 for A/L and 10 for L/R is used for this section. Results are plotted in Fig. 4a. To make the results more understandable, normalized load is plotted on the abscissa. The normalizing parameter used is the maximum load on a saddle as per Megyesy [4] so that a value of unity on the abscissa in Fig. 4a (and Figs. 7 and 8) implies the maximum weight as recommended by Megyesy [4]. This is reasonable as the saddle design and dimensions are also taken from the same source, and it will better access the standard design. Assuming that the yield strength of the carbon steel used in vessel/ saddle construction is close to 220 MPa, lets analyze the results. The highest stresses are occurring in three sections, which are the ange plate, the base plate and the pressure vessel at the saddle horn. The vessel shows yield at the saddle horn at about 10% additional load than the maximum load as recommended by Megyesy [4]. The base and ange plates approach the yield strength at 30% additional load and at 73% of the maximum load respectively. All of the other sections are well under yield value for up to 33% additional load. To check the design at this point, for normalized load of 0.9, three parameters were changed to see the effect. The results are listed in Table 1. It is noted that the maximum stress in the vessel at the saddle horn is only affected by the wear plate overhang and a reduction of 20% is observed by increasing the overhang from 5 to 10 , which is consistent with previous studies [10,13]. Increasing the ange plate thickness, H, causes the maximum stress to reduce only in the ange and actually increases the maximum stress in the base plate. Changing the thickness of the base plate, G, does not affect the stresses in other parts and reduces stress only in the base plate. The maximum stress values in the other ve sections remain essentially unchanged for the four cases. Please note that all dimensions are changed back to the original values (Case 1 in Table 1) for further studies. The curves in Fig. 4a show a slight non-linear behavior, which may be attributed to the fact that each part making up the saddle is being analyzed separately. Although the overall saddle will be in linear elastic range, however individual components may experience high local loads giving the non-linear behavior. Fig. 4b represents the stress contours corresponding to normalized load of 0.9 in Fig. 4a. The stress distribution is not uniform and the ange plate is the highly stressed part of the saddle structure. 3.2. Effect of the A/L ratio Next the effect of the ratio A/L is investigated, which is varied from 0.05 to 0.35 with 0.05 increments. The rst set of results is shown in Fig. 5a for L/R 10. The stresses in all the saddle parts show a dip at A/L 0.25. The most critical section in the vessel, i.e. at the saddle horn and the vessel midsection also shown a dip at A/L 0.25, whereas the other two vessel sections considered (vessel head and the section between the head and saddle) are not affected by the A/L ratio. The same conclusion can be drawn by analyzing the second set of results for a different L/R 14 ratio in Fig. 5b. Therefore, the overall recommendation is to use a value of A/L close to 0.25 for minimum stresses in the pressure vessel and the saddle. This conclusion is inline with the recommendation of Widera et al. [9] but contradicts the recommendation of Magnucki et al. [14]; this may be explained based on the geometry of the

Mises,max (MPa)

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243

Fig. 6. Stress distributions in the vessel at the saddle horn and the ange plate corresponding to Fig. 5a.

saddle used by them [9,14] and the present study. As mentioned previously, these two studies are in contradiction with each other over the suitable value of A/L ratio, although both have considered exible saddles welded to the pressure vessel. Fig. 6 presents stress contours for two sections, one each for the pressure vessel and the saddle for varying A/L ratio corresponding to Fig. 5a. These two sections are chosen as they depict the highest stresses and therefore symbolize the pressure vessel and the saddle

structure respectively. It is observed that as the ratio A/L increases (i.e. the saddle moves towards the vessel mid span), the stress distribution becomes uniform when the ratio A/L approaches 0.25. For A/L < 0.25, both the vessel and the saddle have higher stress values on the vessel midsection side and for A/L > 0.25, the higher stress values shift towards the vessel head side. For A/L values close to 0.25, both the pressure vessel and the saddle have uniform stress distributions and therefore minimum stresses. It is worth

244
350
A/L = 0.25 L/R = 10

S.M.A. Khan / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 87 (2010) 239e244 Table 1 Effect of varying the thickness of the ange and base plates and the wear plate overhang. H G Wear plate Vessel at the Base plate Flange (mm) (mm) overhang saddle horn (MPa) (MPa) plate (MPa) Case Case Case Case 1 2 3 4 6 7 7 7 6 6 8 8 5 5 5 10 185 187 187 147 160 166 152 152 255 236 237 233

300 250 200 150 100

Wear Plate

Flange Plate Vessel at the Saddle Horn Vessel between Head & Saddle

Mises,max (MPa)

Vessel Midsection Vessel Head

50 0 0.60

Base Plate Web Plate

4. Conclusions
1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60 1.80 2.00

0.80

Normalized Load
Fig. 7. Effect of increasing the load on saddles, A/L 0.25.

mentioning that for A/L 0.25, each saddle is in the center of its side of the half length of the pressure vessel. This means that each saddle is carrying roughly half of the total weight and this might be the physical reason as to why a value of 0.25 for A/L gives minimum stresses irrespective of the L/R ratio. Fig. 7 presents a look back at the effect of the load increase on the saddles with the new value of A/L 0.25, which is found to be the optimal for minimum stresses. For this A/L value, the ange plate reaches yield stress after taking an additional 32% load and the vessel at the saddle horn after taking an additional 42% load. Considering the results of Fig. 4a (the vessel at the saddle horn yielded at 10% additional load and the ange plate yielded at 73% of the maximum load), it is concluded that the maximum load on saddles as given in Megyesy [4] depends on the ratio A/L. For example, for the ange plate, it is overestimated for A/L 0.15 and underestimated for A/L 0.25. Keeping in mind the results presented in Table 1, the saddle parts can be selectively redesigned to optimize the design, e.g., by increasing the thickness of the ange plate and the overhang of the wear plate to 10 . 3.3. Effect of the L/R ratio Fig. 8 represents the results for the effect of the slenderness ratio L/R. For A/L 0.25, L/R is varied between 10 and 20 with increments of 2. The maximum stress in the ange plate shows a different behavior than the other sections with a steady rise in the maximum stress value with increasing L/R ratio. For all the other seven sections, the value of the maximum stress is nearly constant between 10 and 16 for L/R. It is therefore recommended to use L/R < 16 for minimum stresses in the vessel and the saddle. This recommendation is inline with the recommendation of Magnucki et al. [14].
200
A/L = 0.25

1. The highly stressed area, beside the pressure vessel at the saddle horn, is the ange plate of the saddle. 2. The maximum load on a saddle as given by Megyesy [4] may be conservative or liberal, depending upon the value of the ratio A/L used. Furthermore, the design of the saddle structure may be optimized by redesigning selectively. 3. A value of 0.25 for the ratio A/L is favored for minimum stresses in the pressure vessel and the saddle. This is the same as recommended by Widera et al. [9] but differs from the recommendation of Magnucki et al. [14]. 4. The physical reason for favoring an A/L close to 0.25 may lie in the fact that at this ratio, each saddle is located roughly at the center of the half of the pressure vessel thus supporting the pressure vessel (or alternatively loading the saddle) uniformly. 5. The slenderness ratio (L/R) of less than 16 is found to generate minimum stresses in the pressure vessel and the saddle. This is the same as recommended by Magnucki et al. [14]. Acknowledgements The author acknowledges the support of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia in carrying out this research work. References
[1] ASME. Boiler and pressure vessel code, section VIII, pressure vessels division. New York: ASME; 1989. [2] Zick LP. Stresses in large horizontal cylindrical pressure vessels on two saddle supports. Weld J Res Suppl 1951;30:435e45. [3] Zick LP. In: Stresses in large horizontal cylindrical pressure vessels on two saddle supports. Pressure vessel and piping: design and analysis e a decade of progress, vol. 2. New York: ASME; 1985. p. 959e70. [4] Megyesy EF. Pressure vessel handbook. Tulsa, Oklahoman, USA: Pressure Vessel Publishing, Inc.; 2001. [5] Duthie G, White GC, Tooth AS. An analysis for cylindrical vessels under local loading e application to saddle supported vessel problems. J Strain Anal 1982;17(3):157e67. [6] Tooth AS, Duthie G, White GC, Carmichael J. Stresses in horizontal storage vessels e a comparison of theory and experiment. J Strain Anal 1982;17(3):169e76. [7] Tooth AS, Jones N. Plastic collapse loads of cylindrical pressure vessels supported by rigid saddles. J Strain Anal 1982;17(3):187e98. [8] British Standards Institution. Unred Fusion Welded Pressure Vessels, BS 5500. BSI; 1997. [9] Widera GEO, Sang ZF, Natarajan R. On the design of horizontal pressure vessels. ASME J Pres Ves Tech 1988;110:393e401. [10] Ong LS. Effectiveness of wear plate at the saddle support. ASME J Pres Ves Tech 1992;114:12e8. [11] Ong LS, Lu G. Optimal support radius of loose-tting saddle support. Int J Pres Ves Pip 1993;54(3):465e79. [12] Chan GCM, Tooth AS, Spence J. An experimental study of the collapse of horizontal saddle-supported storage vessels. Proc IME Part E J Process Mech Eng 1998;212(3):183e95. [13] El-Abbasi N, Meguid SA, Czekanski A. Three-dimensional nite element analysis of saddle supported pressure vessels. Int J Mech Sci 2001;43:1229e42. [14] Magucki K, Stasiewicz P, Szyc W. Flexible saddle support of a horizontal cylindrical pressure vessel. Int J Pres Ves Pip 2003;80:205e10. [15] Khan SMA. Initial investigation into optimizing design of a pressure vessel saddle. Proc ASME-PVP2008; PVP2008e61271.

180
Flange Plate

160
Mises, max (MP a)

140 120 100 80 60

Vessel at the Saddle Horn

Vessel between Head & Saddle Vessel Midsection

Wear Plate Vessel Head

Web Plate

40 20 0 8 10 12 14 16 18

Base Plate

20

22

24

L/R
Fig. 8. Effect of the ratio L/R; A/L 0.25.